Good Friday Comes A Week Early For Lady Gaga Fans

After Lady Gaga took such a bold, pro-gay rights stance on the title track off her upcoming Born This Way LP, one might have expected her second single from the record to be less about stirring up controversy and more about getting people to cut loose on the dance floor. Well, with “Judas,” which leaked earlier today (and then was quickly put up for sale on iTunes), she somehow manages to whip people into a frenzy both with her subject matter AND her beats. Score another one for Gaga!

Teaming up once again with her production maestro RedOne, the man responsible for the dancefloor destroying beats of “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance,” Gaga’s “Judas” marries sweeping synths and thumping techno with some fairly overt religious symbolism. In addition to the titular reference to the man who betrayed Jesus Christ (with an umlaut, to boot!), Gaga also works in shout outs to New Testament staples like Mary Magdalene (“I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs”) and the apostle Peter (“Even after three times he betrays me”), all the while proclaiming she’s “just a holy fool” despite falling for “the demon I cling to.” Hmmm, if we didn’t know any better, we’d say that Gaga is clearly conflicted with her Catholic upbringing!

J/k, of course. One of the most fascinating things about Gaga’s current status in the music industry — not to mention the culture-at-large — is that she recognizes that she’s in a unique position to stir things up. Who knows if people will still be hanging on her every word in one year’s time, but at this moment in time, she is completely cognizant that everyone is listening to her now. And now that she has the floor, she’s damn sure she’s going to use the proverbial pulpit to espouse her beliefs.

UPDATE (5:35 p.m.): Seems like the Universal Music Group is pulling down copies of this song from social media networks as quickly as they spring up. If you want to hear the song, you’re on your own for the moment, guys!